


Master Aqua's Love or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Darkness

by TheMysticSpyral



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Day At The Beach, Hurt/Comfort, Kingdom Hearts III Spoilers, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Trouble In Paradise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 13:13:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19318906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMysticSpyral/pseuds/TheMysticSpyral
Summary: Aqua senses distress from all three of her apprentices and resolves to help each and every one of them, even if that means relishing a bit in their dark sides.





	Master Aqua's Love or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Darkness

“Master…” Kairi said, looking around puzzledly at their new surroundings. “When you said we’d be taking a beach day, well...I mean, I was expecting there to be a sun.”

When her Master first proposed a break from their rigorous training, Kairi was worried her one-piece swimsuit would make her appear overdressed, but now she felt the exact opposite standing in the middle of the ebony shoreline, twisted onyx tendrils standing out like pillars out of the grainy said at her feet then towered over her head, its gnarled arches lined with an eerie blue luminescence. A shiver crept down Kairi’s back, even through there was nary a draft to be felt as the two women stood before the Dark Margin. Kairi had never been to this place, but scattered talk among her friends over the years painted a picture in Kairi’s mind that matched eerily to the real thing.

Kairi clutched the handle of her beach bag tightly as she turned to face her Master. Dressed in a black bikini and flip flops with her own bag slung over her shoulder, Aqua appeared completely unfazed. Relaxed, even. She looked upon Kairi and noticed her apprentice’s unease, the redhead’s shoulders hunched and knees locked together, and smiled reassuringly. Almost as though she was expecting Kairi to be bewildered about the situation, which only peaked Kairi’s confusion even further.

“I’ll own up, Kairi,” Aqua confessed, bringing up her hands in a mea culpa gesture. She walked past Kairi towards to the whisper-quiet lapping of the tide. “Today is still technically going to be a day of training.” Aqua pulled and unfurled a towel from her bag, then squatted down to lay it flat along the sand. “But today might also double as a day of fun. We’ll just have to wait and see how things play out.”

Kairi remained standing, awestruck, as she watched Aqua take a second towel from the back and lay it out next to the first. “M-Master,” she stuttered, her bag’s handle wrinkled as she released her grip on it. “If this is still training, then...why here, of all places?”

“All in due time, Kairi. I’ll explain everything.” Aqua took her seat on the blue beach towel, then patted her hand atop the pink towel adjacent to her. “For now, just take a seat.” Kairi obliged, though she arranged herself with her knees bunched up to her chest. She looked to her side, desperate for her Master to finally explain what’s going on, all while Aqua stared out into the waters with a light smile on her face.

“Do you know what that is, Kairi?”

Kairi joined her Master in gazing out to the bright sphere that sat perched across the horizon. “It’s...the edge of the world. The gateway back to the Realm of Light.”

Aqua nodded, her gaze not breaking away. “The precipice between the two primordial forces of the universe. Existing not in affray, not in an incompatible contrast...but in tranquility, personified as a serene, secluded beach…” Aqua trailed off, gently shutting her eyes. She let out a sigh and stretched out onto her back.

“You’re absolutely right to be confused about me taking you out here, Kairi, but that was also a little intentional,” Aqua continued, bringing her hands behind her head. “Time is immeasurable in the Realm of Darkness. I know it was only twelve years, but for me it may as well have been twelve-hundred.” Her solemn briefly cracked as her lips curled into a half-smile. “Or just twelve days. Like I said, I couldn’t measure it.” She laughed and shook her head. “Anyways, what I mean to say is that as long as I spent here, however long it felt to me, I spent all that time trying to endure the Darkness, resisting it. But that only withered down my spirit even faster. When I look back at those times, when I made it here, to the edge of the Darkness, I’m eternally grateful for my luck. Sure, things started out bad, but if I hadn’t made it here, well...”

Aqua’s smile faded, her lips only parting slightly to exhale a small sigh of breath. “Well, there’s no telling if my resolve would have stayed intact.”

For the first time since they had arrived, Kairi detected vulnerability from her Master. Her body, still stretched out along her towel, stiffened up, and Kairi noticed Aqua pursing her lips together as she let out a huff of breath through her nose. Kairi uncurled herself and sat in a more relaxed position on her side, reaching out to touch Aqua’s elbow.

“You can’t blame yourself for that, Master. He cheated, struck you when you let your guard down.”

Aqua reopened her eyes as she turned to face Kairi and smiled warmly. The two shared a moment, but soon Aqua’s face fell and turned away.

“That doesn’t mean I’m blameless,” Aqua responded, sitting herself back up. “For most of my life, I was repulsed of the Darkness, frightened of it. I spared no opportunity to chastise Terra for giving into it, and in my arrogance I couldn’t see that I was just as vulnerable as he was. My courage didn’t come from fighting for what I felt was right, but fighting against what I felt to be wrong. I let my foundation be built off of fear. If it weren’t for Sora, or Riku…” Aqua turned back to her apprentice, this time putting her right hand over Kairi’s, still settled on Aqua’s left for comfort. “...or you, Kairi I still can’t say if I could have survived from all of that by myself.”

Kairi felt a knot in her chest and took in a deep breath to try and unwrangle it. “T-thank you, Master.” Kairi sat herself up in a cross-legged stance, facing Aqua directly. “But still, what does all of this have to do with coming here?”

“You already have a far better head on your shoulders than I did at your age, Kairi, but I’d like to think I have insight that I have plenty to still teach you myself. Training you to has been as much a learning moment for me as it has been for you, making sure I don’t repeat the mistakes of my Master. You’re a bright girl, you definitely have a grasp on Light and Darkness and its balance but I still feel it my duty to teach you why, especially based on what I had to go through to learn this myself.” Aqua stretched herself out along her towel, grunting as she settled back into lounging rest. “That’s why I decided to make the Dark Margin our weekly break from training.”

Kairi looked at Aqua quizzically. “W-why not back at the Islands?”

Aqua let out an amused huff of breath. “Well, for one I don’t tan very well,” she joked. “But I also felt it would be symbolic to your part of your training in this regard. The Dark Margin is the border between Light and Darkness after all, and you would demonstrate to me that if you are truly comfortable with the two coexisting if you could lounge and rest here just as easily as you could in a place as familiar as Destiny Islands.”

“I...guess that makes sense,” Kairi muttered, still bewildered but compliant, uncrossing her legs and settling herself along her towel just as Aqua had done. She shifted around, glancing over to her Master, who looked as though she was already asleep. “So...are we still going to talk?” she asked.

“No, let’s just lay here a while. Feel free to let your mind wander, listen to the waves. But the main thing I want you to do is try and relax, completely and thoroughly.”

Kairi sighed and lowered her eyes.


End file.
